A Chance To Be Better
by Hagane1
Summary: After being rejected by Kakashi, Naruto isn't trained by Jiraiya. Someone else comes along and offers Naruto a chance to drop his mask and become stronger.
1. Chapter 1

**Yo!**

**This one really didn't want to leave my brain so I decided to just write it out.**

**Hope you like it.**

* * *

The second exam just ended and Naruto rushed to find his sensei. In the finals, he was matched up against Neji, a prodigy from the Hyuga clan who was extremely proficient in taijutsu. Naruto knew that there was no way to he could win as he was now and only great amount of training could help him. Entering the hospital, he asked for the only possible place Kakashi could be.

"In which room is Uchiha Sasuke?" he asked the woman at the reception.

The woman, instead of giving him an answer, glared at him. "Why would I tell you that, freak?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he prepared himself to reply, but the person he was looking for then appeared. "Yo, Naruto. What can I do for you?"

Naruto turned toward the source of the voice and saw his sensei reading his signature book. He walked up to him and voiced his request. "Train me for the finals, sensei."

Kakashi closed his book and sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I'm busy for the month."

"Oh yeah? With what?" he asked with a frown. When Kakashi didn't answer, Naruto scowled. "So you're ditching me for the month so you could train Sasuke?"

Kakashi had decency to look sheepish. "Now, now, I'm not ditching you. I got you a more reliable teacher than me for the month."

"And who would that be?" Naruto asked, his frown not leaving his face.

"That would be me," a new voice spoke, making the two turn toward it. There stood a man with glasses and a bandana-styled forehead protector. "I will be training you for the month, brat."

Naruto looked at the newcomer with barely concealed disgust. "You? So a pervert is ditching me to another pervert."

Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow. "Ebisu? A pervert?"

Ebisu clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth, preventing him from elaborating. "N-nothing important."

Naruto forcefully removed the hand from his mouth and glared at his supposed new sensei. "What the hell would you teach me anyway?"

Ebisu ignored Naruto's snappish remark and pushed up his glasses. "I would teach you what you're worst at."

"And what would that be?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"Naruto, of the three students I teach in Team Seven, you're the worst at basics," Kakashi replied.

"That's right," Ebisu added. "From what Kakashi and I concluded, your chakra control is terrible, so we would focus on it."

Naruto stared at the two with a look that practically said 'What the fuck?'. "Wait, you would spend entire month improving my chakra control?" at Ebisu's nod, Naruto nearly snapped. "What the hell? How could chakra control help me against Neji?"

"Naruto, chakra control is very important aspect of training. If you cannot control how much chakra you use in a jutsu, you might suffer from chakra exhaustion and die on the spot," Kakashi said matter-of-factly. That however didn't calm Naruto in the slightest.

"And what good would chakra control be if I don't have any jutsu to use? Would you teach me any?" he asked Ebisu.

"If you got your chakra control to a good enough level, I might teach you some D to C ranked ninjutsu," Ebisu replied with a shrug.

"I don't need that!" Naruto snapped back rather loudly, surprising the two jonin. "I'm a fucking chakra monster! The amount of chakra I have is more than you two have together! There is no way that what you're planning to teach me would be any good against the last year's Rookie of the year!"

Kakashi frowned. "Naruto, Sasuke is fighting against an opponent that would more than likely kill him. You on the other hand are safe from that option. Plus, I don't really think that you could beat Neji."

That was it. That was all that Naruto needed to hear, before turning around and walking toward exit. "I better go so you don't lose any time with your precious student. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kakashi-_sensei_," the last word was spoken with such mocking disrespect that it froze Kakashi in shock. "And the pervert won't need to train me. I'd rather spend the month training alone than with a guy who despises me."

The two jonin watched in shock as Naruto began to walk toward the exit. Only when the door closed behind him did they snapped out of their shock.

"W-what the hell was that, Kakashi?" Ebisu asked. "You told me he was just a happy-go-lucky brat that would jump at any opportunity to train."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "I thought he was. Doesn't matter though, just go and catch up to him."

Ebisu nodded, albeit reluctantly, and followed after the boy. Much to his shock, Naruto was nowhere in sight. Extending his senses, Ebisu was shocked even more when he couldn't sense the boy anywhere near his position. Rethinking his options, he jumped in the direction of the training grounds, hoping to catch the boy there.

Xxxx

While Ebisu was looking for Naruto, said boy was sitting atop the Hokage monument with a frown on his face. He knew that the pervert wouldn't be able to find him here because, if Naruto didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. Countles of Anbu could confirm that.

He was mulling through his options. His choices were practically nonexistent. Without a teacher, he couldn't learn anything and he didn't know anyone who could teach him anything. Asking the Hokage for help was out of the question, since the man couldn't show favoritism toward a rookie genin. The old man would probably tell him to train with Ebisu anyway.

Not only that, but he nearly lost his control in front of Kakashi and that was something unacceptable. Without gaining some power to properly defend himself against his enemies, it would be stupid to show who he really was. Groaning, he punched the ground.

'_What the fuck am I supposed to do now? There is no way I could beat Neji if I train alone,' _he thought angrily.

Sound of footsteps broke his musings and he instantly turned around to look at whoever was approaching him. Expecting the four-eyed pervert, he was rather surprised when he saw an old man with bandages over his eye and cane in his hand instead. On the first glance, the man looked like any old cripple in the village. You would think that you could beat his ass with both hands behind your back and eyes closed. Naruto knew better though.

The way the man walked showed power and experience with each step. The way his muscles twitched every second, he looked ready to defend against any threat in a flash. Naruto could recognize that same posture when he was around the Sandaime. They both looked like frail old men, but they could kick his ass without even breaking a sweat.

Naruto stayed silent as the imposing figure neared with each step. He honestly didn't know what to do or say. Should he run? Nah, if the man was out for his blood, he could catch him easily. Fighting also wasn't an option, due to obvious reasons. Naruto decided to deal with this the only way he knew. With a big-ass grin on his face. "Hey old man, what do you want?" he asked loudly.

The man's face stayed as impassive as it was from the moment he saw him. "Uzumaki, drop the act. I would rather talk to the original than a fake."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, but the man didn't budge an inch. He sighed before smirking. "So you've noticed?"

A ghost of a smirk appeared on the man's face. "Only a fool wouldn't notice such an obvious act. I am surprised though, how could you keep it up for so long?"

Naruto scoffed. "It was either that or die. Without having some actual power behind my attitude would only kill me."

The man nodded. He knew of Naruto's status in the village and among the villagers. They all thought of him as a village idiot, without any skill at all. As long he was a docile lamb, the villagers wouldn't bother him too much, but he knew that the boy was probably full of pent-up anger and frustration.

"I see you know my name, but I still don't know yours," Naruto said again, breaking the man from his musings. "And what do you want with me?"

"My name is Shimura Danzo and my offer is to train you for the duration of the next month," the man, now revealed as Danzo, replied stoically.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Danzo, huh? I've heard of you from Jiji. Why would you want to train me?"

"As you are probably aware of, you are this village's jinchuriki," at Naruto's nod, he continued. "I will not lie to you, your main purpose is to be Konoha's trump card in possible wars. As you are now, you are no match for even some of the experienced genin. The reason I would train you is simple, to increase Konoha's military strength and power."

Naruto nodded slowly after hearing all of that. Danzo was pretty straightforward man and he wouldn't bend or sugarcoat his words. Naruto could see that the man didn't see him more than a weapon, something akin to a kunai, to be used and, if broken, discarded. He might not like that, but the opportunity was too great to lose.

"What about Jiji?" Naruto asked in the end.

"Sarutobi gave me his permission to train you. He was still sane enough to see the bigger picture and do the right thing," Danzo replied. Naruto was somewhat amazed how the man hid his emotions so well. He was almost like a walking statue, nothing could gouge a reaction out of him.

Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Does that mean you accept my training?" at Naruto's nod, he turned around and beckoned the boy to follow. "Then from now on, you shall refer to me as Danzo-sama."

Xxxx

Naruto blinked rapidly as he tried to adjust his eyes to the sudden light. Somewhere along the way, Danzo called for two of his subordinates and placed a bag over Naruto's head. Naruto guessed that the place they were in at the moment was at a secret location he didn't need to know. What Danzo didn't count on was that Naruto very good at minding his surroundings and could easily locate the base by retracing his steps.

Currently, he was looking at a long hallway lit with numerous torches. The hall branched at several directions and each led deeper into the compound. Naruto was slightly amazed at the sheer amount of space they created underground.

"Let's go," a monotonous voice of one Root ninja was heard and Naruto was led through the hallway. They passed through so many passages that even Naruto with his good memory couldn't possibly remember them all. Danzo and his two cronies walked soundlessly, almost like they were gliding over the floor. Naruto just hoped that he wouldn't end up as emotionless as them after the month ends.

"So, how will you train me?" Naruto asked in the end. That question plagued his mind ever since he accepted Danzo's offer.

"You will find out later," Danzo replied. "I will tell you though, that this training will be gruesome. I will personally attest to it. You will train every day, with minimum amount of breaks and by the end of the month, you will be at low to mid jonin level."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Kind of ruthless, isn't it?" after not hearing a response, he chuckled. "Not that I don't mind. I sure as hell would like to be strong as a jonin in the end. I won't skulk, don't worry."

"If you did, I would have punish you, Uzumaki. I will expect nothing but obedience from you. This training is of my free will and if I see that it bears no fruit, I will immediately stop it," Danzo said with a bit of force.

Naruto only smirked. "Do your worst."

A ghost of a smirk appeared on Danzo's face. He finally had something to entertain himself with for a while.

Xxxx

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was slowly setting, not that Naruto knew of that as there were no windows in the underground compound. Two weeks have passed since he arrived here and he only grew in leaps and bounds. The method of training helped quite a lot as well.

From the moment the training started, Naruto had to make as many shadow clones as he could. It was quite confusing as to why he had to do it, but he did it nonetheless. He was rather surprised when the instructor began to instruct clones on chakra control exercises and other chakra based stuff. When he found out the true abilities of shadow clones, he nearly went to tear Kakashi a new one for never telling him that bit of information.

The original was thrown into a harsh physical training. The amount of push-ups, sit-ups, laps he ran and other physical exercises he did, were insane. Such amount would probably be impossible to finish for anyone other than him, since he was a jinchuriki and had amazing stamina. After the exercises, he was tossed in the ring and would spar with several Root operatives. It didn't matter to them if he was dead tired and barely able to move. 'The enemy wouldn't wait for you to be at your best' is what they would say when he complained.

The sparring was mostly to build Naruto's experience. Fighting various enemies in various quantities was something that can make you grow as a ninja and, since Naruto's clones were practicing the katas, Naruto had very long sparring sessions. Also, there were many Root ninja to fight.

"Again," a cold, emotionless voice spoke when the blond boy was thrown back.

Naruto was in a spar with one of the more experienced Root trainees and was getting his ass handed to him. The trainee was tough and fast, good enough to slip under Naruto's guard and deliver devastating punches all over his body. Naruto was brought down more than he would have liked already in this match, but would stand right up and charge again.

"Alright, that's enough," Danzo finally spoke and the two combatants separated. "Naruto, your taijutsu is getting better every day. Now, you will dispel your clones before resting. Be careful to do it in smaller groups."

Naruto nodded and began to dispel his clones. He had his clones stationed all over the place, working on many other exercises. There were five groups in total. The first one was for taijutsu, where the clones would practice katas of various styles to better prepare the original for a fight. The second one was for kenjutsu and even if Naruto didn't really plan to use a sword, the art itself was very valuable to learn. It wouldn't do him any good to die on the field just because his opponent was more skilled with a blade.

The last three were focused on chakra exercises. One group was created simply for honing Naruto's chakra control with various exercises. Naruto's chakra capacity grew even larger during his time in Root, so proper control was necessary. The second group was created to practice nature transformation. Ever since he found out his elements, Naruto had clones honing those elements to perfection. He was told that it could take months, but significant amount of shadow clones proved everyone wrong.

The last group was merely a jutsu learning group. They would learn multiple techniques that would later be transferred to the original. He sometimes thought that maybe he was cheating a bit in his training, but the look of arrogance on Sasuke's face as he activated his Sharingan, threw those thoughts away. If that bastard could steal other's jutsu, he could milk his shadow clone for every bit of training he could get.

"Get some rest before we review what your clones learned," Danzo said and turned around to go toward his quarters, when Naruto's voice stopped him.

"Danzo-sama, what rank would you give me?" Naruto asked with utmost seriousness. Even though he didn't particularly like Danzo, the man came to him and helped him. He valued the man's opinion as a shinobi, but other than that, he didn't want to have any connection with him. Danzo was the type of person that would manipulate you to do his bidding and then toss you aside like you never existed. Naruto in particular didn't want to be used and manipulated.

"The rank I would give you is chunin. Now rest, I will not go easy on you," Danzo said with his familiar emotionless voice and retreated to his office.

Naruto sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he watched the man retreat. All this emotionless bullshit was really getting on his nerves. While it was true that emotions could be hindrances on the field, completely removing one's emotions was even worse. They could only make logical and rational decisions, which didn't mean that they were always good decisions. They could easily sacrifice a child for an information scroll and that was something Naruto hated about them.

Root was an underground organization that would deal with stuff that Konoha as a village wasn't supposed to be associated with. They could kill with ease, whether a man, woman or a child. Only thing that mattered to them was a mission objective. Everything that stood in between would be destroyed. And they were very efficient too. Sometimes too efficient, considering what he saw when he sneaked into Root mission archive.

Finding nothing better to do, Naruto retreated to his room and went to bed. Every second of sleep in this base was as valuable as a stack of Ryos and Naruto would be damned if he would be tired in front of Danzo.

Xxxx

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha toward the stadium. The day has finally arrived and Naruto would be fighting Neji in front of many important political figures. He smirked under the hood of his cloak that concealed his identity as he thought about his training in Root.

Naruto was now low to mid level jonin, perfectly capable of defeating many of his opponents. His taijutsu was based on a style that Anbu used, fast and precise. Combine that with amazing speed and raw strength he had, he could break bones without any troubles. His ninjutsu was also amazing. He went with quality over quantity and had several powerful jutsus, both elemental and not, which he mastered. His kenjutsu was good enough so that he could go toe-to-toe with low jonin level ninja. Genjutsu was his weak point, just as before, only this time he could dispel them. Only high leveled and multi layered illusions could hinder him.

Naruto had no doubt in his mind that he could defeat Neji. The Hyuga was a close combat specialist and the Hyugas were widely known for using only taijutsu in a fight. They never branched their skills and that was their downfall. Naruto had long ranged techniques that could really screw up the battlefield and anyone on it, but he would refrain from using them in the exam. No matter how much he disliked Neji, he wouldn't kill him, just beat him up.

Entering the stadium, he saw the other contestants, minus Sasuke, already there and waiting. Not wanting to waste any more time, Naruto approached them and saw that the proctor was changed. Now there stood a brown-haired man with a senbon in his mouth. The jonin looked at Naruto questionably, mostly because of the hood, which didn't go unnoticed by the blond.

"I'm sorry if I'm late," was the only thing that Naruto said when he arrived.

Seeing that Naruto won't say anything else, the jonin decided to introduce himself. "Well, anyway, my name is Shiranui Genma and I will be the proctor for the third exam."

The other genin looked confused as to why Hayate was replaced, but didn't comment on it. Seeing that they still had some time before it began, Shikamaru decided to make some small talk with his former classmate.

"Yo, Naruto," he said with a lazy wave. "What's with the cloak?"

Naruto smirked under the hood. "You'll see."

Xxxx

Up in the stands, other genin that didn't pass were situated by their jonin senseis. They were all eager to see the battles begin and also, who would be on top. Bets were being taken from all sides and most of the money went either on Sasuke or Gaara. One particular genin was looking worriedly at the arena.

"Where are they?" she asked, mostly herself, but was heard by her neighbor.

"I think that's Naruto down there," Ino replied and pointed at the assembled genin in the arena. "The one with the cloak."

Sakura looked confused. "Why is he wearing a cloak?" that question was instantly replaced by another. "But where is Sasuke-kun?"

"Don't worry forehead, he'll be here," Ino said matter-of-factly. "Do you really think he would miss this? And besides, Kakashi-sensei is with him."

Sakura nodded and smiled. "I can't wait to see how strong he is."

"Yeah, me too," Ino added with a sigh. "Do you think Naruto improved? Can he beat Neji?"

At that point, Tenten decided to interrupt. "There is no way that Uzumaki could defeat Neji. Neji was the rookie of the year last year and Uzumaki was the dead-last. He won against Kiba with dumb luck only."

Sakura couldn't help but agree with some of the things Tenten said. Naruto was the dead-last and the battle against Kiba was mostly won by luck. She knew that the blond was strong, seeing that first-hand in the forest of death, but he couldn't possibly measure against a year older rookie of the year.

"Now, now, Tenten," Gai chimed in from the side. "Who knows what could happen. Naruto-kun's flames of youth could have grown hotter over the month!"

Tenten palmed her face at her senseis antics and some other people snickered quietly. Gai was sometimes too enthusiastic for his own good.

"Where is Kakashi, though?" Kurenai voiced her question. "Will he just miss his student's fight like that? Not to mention that his other student is late."

Asuma exhaled before answering. "Knowing Kakashi, he will arrive late, just as usual. He'll probably drag Sasuke with him, but considering who the boy is, they will probably just let that slip."

"My eternal rival's flames of youth have extinguished over the years," Gai said solemnly, much to the surprise of the others. Quiet Gai was a rare occasion. They sweat dropped the next moment though, when Gai returned to his old, loud self. "I will challenge him later so I can enflame his flames of youth!"

Xxxx

"Hello, Kazekage-dono," Sarutobi said as he saw the Kazekage approach. "I trust your journey was pleasant?"

"Ah, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage replied with a bow. "The journey was fine, I assure you. It is good that the exam is held here this time. The trip to Suna could be too much for your old bones."

Sarutobi laughed lightly. "Oh there is still enough juice in these bones, don't you worry. I can still hold my own against many youngsters around the world."

"I am sure you could," Kazekage replied. "But wouldn't it be better if you chose the Godaime?"

"The time for that should come soon," Sarutobi said with a chuckle before he stood up and faced the crowd. "Thank you all for coming to Konoha's Chunin Selection Exam! I hope you will enjoy the matches and stay until the end!"

Xxxx

"Alright, stop yapping and listen," Genma said and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Since Dosu disappeared, Shikamaru will fight Temari in the final battle of the first round."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered at the prospect of having to fight another girl.

"Now all of you except Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji leave the arena," Genma said and the others quickly left. When the three were the only people in the arena, Genma decided to relay the rules. "The rules are the same as in the preliminaries, you fight until one of you dies or forfeits. If I determine that the match is over, I'll step in, is that clear?" receiving nods from the genin, he stood between them and raised his arm. "Then, Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuga Neji, begin!"

With that, Genma jumped away from the two, staying away not to get hit by a stray jutsu, but still close enough to interfere if necessary. The two genin stood still, appraising each other silently. This was something that surprised Neji. He thought that Naruto would attack him with his usual loud fashion and dozen shadow clones. To see the usually loud genin stay still for more than few seconds was something rather weird.

"I am surprised that you can be so calm in front of the one who will defeat you," Neji taunted with a smirk. "You should give up, fate has decided that I will win this match."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a hint of mocking in his tone. "I guess I will have to show you that fate has nothing with this match," he then ripped his cloak of him and tossed it away.

The crowd gasped as one when the cloak was removed. In the last month, Naruto improved not only in his skills, but in appearance as well. He had grown at least five inches over the month and his hair grew longer. He completely ditched orange from his clothing and now he wore black pants, taped over his ankles and black sandals. He was also wearing black short-sleeved muscle shirt, along with black fingerless gloves and black elbow protectors. Shuriken pouch was strapped on his right thigh and a kunai pouch was strapped on his hip. His forehead protector was strapped on his forehead, but he replaced the blue strap with black.

All in all, most people in the crowd believed that the Yondaime was back from the dead.

Xxxx

"I-i-is that N-Naruto?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

"He is… hot," Ino said while drool trailed down her chin as she looked at Naruto's hard muscles.

"Pig you're drooling," Sakura said, startling Ino and snapping her out of her fantasy. _'But she's right. He is hot!'_

'_N-Naruto-kun, so hot,' _Hinata thought and a thin trail of blood trailed out of her nose.

"That's Naruto? Where's the orange?" Kiba asked while looking at the blond.

"He must've realized how bad that jumpsuit was," Sakura answered.

"Yosh!" Lee suddenly exclaimed. "Naruto-kun's flames of youth burn brightly! Gai-sensei, when I heal, I will challenge Naruto-kun for a youthful spar!"

"That's right, Lee! I am sure your spar will be filled with youth!" Gai replied loudly.

"Shut up, Gai!" Anko, who sitting by the other jonins finally snapped. "You're too old to talk about youth!"

"Where is Kakashi though?" Asuma decided to voice almost everyone's question. "I mean, this is his student's match after all."

"Who cares about him," Anko chimed in. "Though his student is quite a hunk," she added with a sly grin. "I wouldn't mind having a piece of him."

"Anko!" Kurenai exclaimed from her side with a blush on her face. "You're ten years older than him!"

Anko waved her off. "Come on, that doesn't matter at all," she said and smirked. "Or maybe you want him all for yourself?"

Kurenai looked away to hide the blush that covered her face. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied with a slight stutter. Her eyes then darted toward the blond in the arena and she had to admit to herself. He was hot.

"Sure you don't," Anko said with a sly grin.

"Something is different about him though," Asuma said after a thorough examination of the blond.

"What could that be, Asuma-kun?" Gai asked.

Seeing that the attention of all other genin and jonin was now on him, Asuma decided to elaborate. "I don't know what really, but something about him just screams power. That look in his eyes shows that he is completely sure that he will win. There is no fear, no doubt, he's a completely different person than he was a month ago."

Sakura looked at her teammate thoughtfully. "Did Kakashi-sensei helped him that much?"

A snort was heard from Anko. "Yeah right, he ditched the gaki the moment he asked for training."

Three jonin senseis narrowed their eyes. "What do you mean, Anko?"

"I was there when it happened, went to get some papers. Anyway, the gaki asked for training and Kakashi just ditched him to Ebisu so he could spend a month with his precious Uchiha," Anko answered with disdain.

Other jonin shared a look. It was not a secret that Ebisu hated Naruto for what he contained and they really couldn't understand why would Kakashi ask him to train the boy. Kakashi wasn't a complete idiot and he had to knew something like that. That raised another question though.

"So Ebisu trained him during the month?" Kurenai asked disbelievingly.

Anko shook her head with a chuckle. "Nope, the kid flipped them off and left."

"Then who trained him?" Asuma asked, slightly annoyed.

"I have no idea," Anko replied with a sheepish grin. "I went to find him later to offer him some training, but he disappeared completely. I swept through the entire village and I couldn't find him."

"Really?" Asuma wondered as he looked back at Naruto. "Well we can ask him later, now let's watch the match."

Other's nodded and looked back at the arena. They did wonder about one thing though, how strong did Naruto get?

Xxxx

"Who is that boy, Hokage-sama?" Kazekage asked as he looked at the confident genin.

"That's Uzumaki Naruto, one of our best genin," Sarutobi replied with a fond smile.

"I am curious how will he fight against a Hyuga," Kazekage said more to himself.

Sarutobi only nodded in agreement. He could only wonder how much stronger did Naruto get in the last month. He still remembered when Danzo walked into his office and demanded to train the boy.

**Flashback**

_Sarutobi sat in his office, doing the only thing he hated, paperwork. The second exam just finished and he barely made it to his office where a pile of paperwork eagerly waited for him. Stamping a paper after paper, he hoped for any sort of distraction and, luckily, something came up._

_A knock on the door was heard and Sarutobi gratefully lifted his head and called the visitor in. When the visitor turned up to be Danzo, he really didn't know what to expect._

"_What can I do for you today, Danzo?" Sarutobi asked carefully. It's not every day that Danzo leaves his nest to visit him, so he allowed himself to be a little curious._

"_Hiruzen, I want to train Uzumaki Naruto for the month before the third exam," Danzo answered emotionlessly._

_Sarutobi's eyes widened in surprise. Last time Danzo said that was when the Kyubi was just sealed and he wanted to turn the boy into a weapon. Sarutobi shot that down without a second glance and put Naruto in the orphanage. After that, Danzo tried to get the boy for himself every few months for the first few years of Naruto's life, but later stopped completely. Sarutobi could only wonder what brought this on._

"_Why would you want that?" Sarutobi asked with a frown._

_Danzo replied almost instantly. "Because the boy is to weak. Compared to the jinchuriki of other nations, he is the worst. If he was a normal genin, his bad skills could be considered normal, but being a jinchuriki, he has to be stronger."_

"_You want to train him in using the Kyubi's chakra?" Sarutobi asked with a raised eyebrow._

_Danzo shook his head. "I will leave that to Jiraiya. I am not proficient in fuinjutsu so I don't want to mess with something I don't understand."_

"_Then why would you want to train him?" Sarutobi asked. "Especially now?"_

"_There are two reasons for that. The first one is for the public. We don't want our jinchuriki to appear weak. If that were to be found out by our enemies, they could attack us with their much stronger demon containers. Also, the Kazekage will attend the finals and if the Ichibi container is stronger than Uzumaki, it will put a shame on our village," Danzo said with an even tone._

_Sarutobi considered the answer and found it quite sane. If they appeared weak, their enemies wouldn't hesitate to attack. The jinchuriki was supposed to be strong and Naruto wasn't stronger than a better genin. Sarutobi knew that Danzo could train Naruto to be very strong in a month, but was that the right choice? "And the second reason?" _

"_You know that there is some tension between Konoha and Suna?" receiving a nod, he continued. "There is also Otogakure that should worry us. Kakashi said that the village is led by Orochimaru. The presence of both Suna's jinchuriki and team of Oto ninja is troubling."_

_Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "You mean invasion?"_

"_Possibly," Danzo replied. "That is the second reason why I want to train the boy. Against the Ichibi jinchuriki, Naruto has the biggest chance to win, but only if he is strong enough."_

_Sarutobi still wasn't entirely convinced. "What about Kakashi? Wouldn't he want to train his student?"_

"_Kakashi asked Ebisu to train him while he trained the Uchiha and Naruto refused."_

_Sarutobi frowned. "You wouldn't try your mental conditioning on Naruto?"_

"_I have no plans to make the boy one of my own. All I want is to train him for the good of Konoha," Danzo answered honestly._

_Sarutobi stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "Very well, you may train him."_

_Danzo nodded and turned around to leave, but stopped to say one more thing. "Don't look for the boy, because you won't find him. You will see him in a month."_

_With that, he exited the office, leaving Sarutobi to return to his greatest enemy. _

**Flashback End**

'_Show me how strong you are, Naruto-kun," _Sarutobi thought as he looked at the boy.

Xxxx

"Fate has declared me a winner, Uzumaki. You may change your clothes, but you can never change destiny," Neji said.

Naruto snorted. "Fate doesn't exist, Neji, but if it did, it wouldn't favor someone like you," he replied and settled in his stance.

Neji snarled and charged. "I will make you pay for that!

Naruto only smirked as he charged back.

* * *

**And that's it.**** Review and tell me what you think!  
**

**See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo!**

**It took a while, but it's here.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Neji didn't waste any time as he attacked Naruto. His Byakugan flared and the tips of his fingers were charged with chakra, ready to close Naruto's tenketsu with a mere touch. Among all that anger, Neji managed to somewhat calm himself and began to attack with more precision.

Naruto, on the other hand, had no trouble in evading Neji's strikes. To his eye, they were much slower than some of the Root's operatives and he could easily avoid them. He knew that if he was touched even once, the match could be lost for him.

"Stay still so I can hit you!" Neji said in anger and continued his arm thrusts.

Naruto leaned back to avoid a hit to the head and parried the second thrust to the chest before lashing out and kicking Neji in the stomach. Neji stumbled backwards and barely managed to raise his arms to block another kick from Naruto. Feeling the strength of the kick, Neji jumped backward in an effort to lessen the blow.

"How can you be so strong, damn it!" Neji shouted in frustration as he looked at Naruto. Naruto seemed perfectly calm and not exhausted at all, which didn't spell good for Neji. The Hyuga was breathing slightly shallower and his stance was slightly shaken from the damage received from the kicks.

"I trained, Neji," Naruto replied. "For the last month I trained harder than I ever did before and it payed off. You can't beat me, Neji. Not today."

Neji narrowed his white eyes and charged again. His arm thrusts became faster and Naruto quickly found himself on the defensive. Each of Neji's strikes was directed to more important chakra points and Naruto knew that if he were to get, it wouldn't be good. He dodged what he could and parried what he couldn't, all the while his eyes never leaving Neji's. Naruto decided that it was time to stop defending and lowered his body under Neji's thrust. Neji was caught off guard and Naruto used that opportunity to give Neji a hard punch in the gut. The punch sent Neji back few feet and he fell on his knees, spitting some blood while holding his stomach.

Xxxx

"I can't believe this," Tenten said disbelievingly. "How can he match Neji in taijutsu so easily?"

Gai smiled brightly. "Naruto-kun's flames of youth shine brightly! Makes me wonder what kind of training he went throught!"

Tenten nodded absentmindedly in agreement. Gai was also curious how Naruto could easily match Neji's taijutsu prowess. He didn't train Neji in taijutsu since the boy trained in Hyuga's Juken, but he did help him with training and knew that the boy was extremely good in taijutsu. Even though Neji didn't have Lee's speed, he could still beat him with his Byakugan. Having that dojutsu really helped in battle.

"The gaki's good," Anko said with a big grin. "He looks like he's not even trying."

Other jonin could only nod. Naruto really looked like an experienced fighter who went through many battles. He did actually, but they didn't know that. The genin in the audience could only watch in amazement how the dead-last was wiping the floor with the rookie of the year. Considering how bad he was before, this was something akin to a miracle.

"How did Naruto become so strong?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"He probably trained his ass off," Choji replied while munching on his chips.

"Do you think he's stronger than Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked.

Sakura whipped her head toward her ex best friend. "Shut up, pig! There is no way that Naruto is stronger than Sasuke-kun!"

"I don't know, Sakura," Kiba decided to interrupt. "If Naruto can match Neji, who is year older than us, then he could probably match, if not beat, Sasuke."

"It's not over," Tenten suddenly said, making everyone look at her. "Neji didn't even show his full power. Naruto won't stand a chance against Neji's most powerful techniques."

They all looked back at the arena and wondered the same thing. Could Naruto actually beat Neji?

Xxxx

"I didn't think that the Hyuga would have so much trouble in this match," the Kazekage said. "From what I've heard, the Uzumaki boy was dead-last and one of the weakest genin in his generation."

"Well, Naruto-kun is pretty unpredictable," Sarutobi replied with a chuckle.

"I'm curious as to how the Uzumaki would fair against the Uchiha," Kazekage said while scratching his chin in thought.

"We might find out soon enough, Kazekage-dono," Sarutobi said while smiling at Naruto.

Kazekage chuckled. "Well, if the Uchiha doesn't show up, we probably won't."

Sarutobi frowned at that. He had sent a team of Anbu to look for Kakashi and his student, but they still couldn't find them. He wasn't afraid that something happened to the boy, he was with Kakashi after all and the one-eyed jonin could take care of both of them. The Anbu team was sent mostly because the council wouldn't stop complaining so Sarutobi decided to appease them and sent the team on the way.

"Then let's hope he does," Sarutobi said as they returned their attention towards the fight.

Xxxx

Neji stumbled back on his feel while holding his stomach. That punch was one of the strongest he had ever received, not as strong as Gai's, but still very strong. He felt like his insides were mashed to a pulp and he was barely containing his breakfast. He snarled seeing the confident smirk on Naruto's face. Neji knew that he had to buy himself some time, but he didn't know how.

"Why don't you give up, Neji?" Naruto suddenly spoke. "It's clear that you can't win today."

"Shut up, Uzumaki!" Neji replied angrily. "Fate has declared me the winner of this match and you can't do anything about it. Fate controls everything, who has talent, who is worthless, who becomes the Hokage, fate has its fingers in everything. You are nobody, Uzumaki, a talentless orphan with foolish dreams. The title of Hokage was bestowed at birth by fate itself. Only selected few individuals could become the Hokage and you aren't one of them."

Naruto stayed silent, as if Neji's words somehow hurt him. He suddenly began chuckling. "Does that mean that you could? Did fate declared you as the future Hokage, huh? You seem to be favored by fate a lot so it wouldn't surprise me."

Neji smirked. "I'm a genius, Uzumaki, and certainly I could become a Hokage if I wanted to. The Hyuga clan is the most prestigious clan in Konoha and my chances to become the Hokage are certainly bigger than yours."

"Even with that seal you bear?" Naruto asked and tapped his forehead making Neji gasp in shock. "Do you really think that they would let a servant become a Hokage?"

Neji snarled in anger. "How do you know about that?" he asked angrily.

"Well, it's not really a big secret," Naruto said with a shrug. "But I also know some other things. For example, how Hinata was kidnapped and your father paid for it. Also how you hate the main house and how you unleash all your anger on Hinata, who never did anything to you."

Neji stared at Naruto in slight shock, before snarling again. "Then you see that you cannot defy fate!" he exclaimed and ripped his forehead protector of his forehead, showing the seal to the world. "This seal was bestowed to me by fate. I can never get rid of it and it will always follow me. The only way to lose it, is to die," he paused as he strapped his protector back on. "My father died to save the village, simply because he was a branch house member."

"Then he was a damn hero," Naruto said, surprising Neji. "It was either war or Hiashi's body. Your father was the one that wanted to sacrifice himself for his brother. Everything else was just convenience."

"There is nothing heroic in dying for the main house! The simple fact is that his destiny was set the moment he was born, as was mine and as was yours. Fate has already carved our paths which we follow. We cannot defy it, only obey it."

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Let me tell you a story then," he began. "All my life, I was hated. Throughout my life, I was either in an alley, sleeping behind a dumpster or beaten by the mobs. Throughout the academy, my growth was stunted, the teachers taught me wrongly and deliberately worsened my grades. If fate really controlled everything, I would've been a weakling like I was a month ago. Only I carved my own destiny."

Xxxx

"Did Naruto really have such a hard life?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Yes, he did," Anko replied. "And as his teammate, you should've noticed that already," she added. Anko looked sadly at Naruto, they had similar fates and she could really relate to him. They were both marked with seals they didn't ask for and were hated because of them.

Sakura meanwhile bowed her head in shame. Of course she had seen how the villagers treated Naruto, but she never cared. She was always fighting for Sasuke's attention and didn't care about anything else.

"Naruto had a hard life because of something he never had control over," Kurenai said, making everyone look at her.

"W-what was t-that, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked timidly.

Kurenai only shook her head. "It's not my place to say. If you want to know, asked Naruto."

Everyone looked back at Naruto as he continued to speak.

Xxxx

Narut sighed and shook his head. "You said that no one can defy fate, right? Then why did you try to kill Hinata? As a branch house member you were supposed to protect her, not hurt her. With that act alone, you tried to defy fate."

"Shut up, Uzumaki!" Neji shouted. "You know nothing! You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a seal you could never rid yourself of!"

"Yeah, I do," Naruto replied, shocking Neji. "And now, I'm going to finish this," he added and disappeared in a blur.

"I won't let you!" Neji shouted as he saw Naruto appear behind him. Naruto's fist was ready to strike, but Neji wouldn't allow him to complete the action. **"Hakkesho Kaiten!" **Neji exclaimed and started to spin while releasing huge amount of chakra out of his tenketsu.

Naruto cursed as Neji was surrounded by a dome of spinning chakra. Maneuvering himself, he channeled great amount of chakra into his feet and propelled himself away from the dome. Looking up, he saw that Neji stopped spinning with a smirk on his face.

"You are within my field of divination," he said arrogantly and settled into a low stance. **"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"**

Xxxx

"It's over," Tenten said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, turning to look at the bun-haired girl.

"That is Neji's strongest technique. There is no defense against it," she said with finality. "It's over for Uzumaki."

"I wouldn't count him out, Tenten," Gai suddenly spoke, making said girl turn toward him. "Naruto-kun showed us how unpredictable he can be," he added with a big grin.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun is bursting with flames of youth!" Lee exclaimed enthusiastically.

"I still can't believe that's the same Naruto," Ino said. "He's so… different."

"Gaki's great," Anko said with a grin. "Fairy has nothing on him."

Everyone looked at her in shock after hearing Neji's nickname. The silence was broken by Kiba's snickering. "That was gold!"

"I still can't believe that Kakashi missed his student's fight. He's practically breaking his own rule," Kurenai said with a frown, receiving nods from other jonin.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Asuma said with a shrug. "Let's just watch the fight. It seems to be getting interesting."

Everyone nodded and turned their attention back to the fight. Something told them that these last few moments would be decisive and they wouldn't want to miss them.

Xxxx

"It's over!" Neji charged at Naruto with a smirk on his face. His arms raised slightly, prepared to lash out his strongest attack and close Naruto's tenketsu, effectively beating him. In his mind, there was no way he could lose. This technique was Neji's fastest even Lee couldn't completely evade it.

It was a great surprise for Neji when Naruto smirked. And that smirk promised pain.

Suddenly, electricity began to randomly spark through Naruto's arms before they were completely engulfed in lightning. Blue-colored electricity coursed through his muscles, effectively stimulating his nervous system and allowing his arms to move faster. The speed of his arms was now much faster than Neji's.

Neji thrust his arm forward, prepared to hit Naruto's first tenketsu, but was greatly surprised when Naruto's lightning covered arm shot up and blocked the thrust. Not letting it get to him, Neji raised his other arm and thrust it at Naruto, but it was blocked again with Naruto's free arm.

'_He can match my speed when I'm using this technique?' _Neji thought to himself as Naruto blocked another set of thrusts.

It was getting increasingly bad for Neji. If he didn't get a hit on Naruto, he may very well lose this fight. While the chakra covering his fingertips prevented him from being shocked by electricity, the sheer speed of his arm movements, combined with the strain of the match, was getting to him. He had great stamina for a genin, but even he had his limits.

Naruto on the other hand didn't have those problems. Being a stamina freak as he was really helped in these kinds of situations. Even with the constant usage of lightning chakra, which increased the speed of his arms and protected him from Neji's chakra, he was barely winded. He could go for hours like this and that was something bad for Neji.

As Neji neared his final few thrusts, he desperately increased his speed. The muscles in his arms strained under the pressure and began to convulse as his thrusts became slightly faster. He had to get at least one hit on the blond or he was done for. Unharmed Naruto was bad business for Neji.

"Now it's over," Naruto said as he blocked Neji's final thrust and slammed the palm of his free arm directly at Neji's chest. **"Raiton: Shogeki Mahi no Jutsu!" **

Neji let out a small scream as the electricity coursed through his body before falling on the ground. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Naruto in pure shock and fear. "What did you do to me?"

Naruto grinned. "You like it?" he asked and stopped the flow of lightning chakra in his arms. "This is one of my special techniques. I channel lightning chakra through my arms, which speeds up my arms and serves as a shield from your attacks. The jutsu I used on you channels electricity through your body, effectively paralyzing you," he then looked at his arms that were slightly immobile. "I haven't mastered it yet though, and it leaves my arms slightly numb for a while."

Neji's eyes widened. How could he have been defeated by something so simple? He tried to move, but couldn't, as if his body was no longer under the control of his mind. He knew it was over, but didn't want to acknowledge it because if he did, then Naruto would prove him right. And he didn't want someone like the Uzumaki prove him right.

"You lose, Neji," Naruto said with finality. "Do you see now? Do you see that there is no fate? If there were, I would be a loser for the rest of my life, destined to suffer from the hate of the others, but I rose above it. I was offered a chance and I took it. I trained hard and now I'm stronger than you," he then turned to the proctor. "Genma-san, it's over."

Genma nodded. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced to the shocked crowd.

The crowd was stunned in silence. They had just seen the Rookie of the year, the genius of Hyuga clan, the best Juken user of his generation, getting beat up by a dead-last. Those that placed bets on Neji were even more shocked than the others, and there were lot of them. But hey, silence had to be broken and it was when Gai began to clap. Soon some of the other jonin joined as well and soon most of the stadium was clapping. There were still those that spew hateful comments at Naruto, but he didn't notice them.

Naruto looked at the crowd with a mild surprise. This was the first sign of recognition he had ever received and he honestly didn't know how to deal with it. He expected them all to stand up and insult him for hurting the Hyuga, but this… this was something completely new. He looked away from the crowd and walked toward the entrance that would lead him toward the competitor box, where he was greeted by Shikamaru and Shino.

"Hey, man, how did you do that?" Shikamaru asked with raised eyebrows.

"I trained," was Naruto's reply before he sat down in silence.

The other two Konoha genin looked at each other before looking at Naruto, who was leaning on the wall with his eyes closed. He really was unpredictable.

Xxxx

"He won," Tenten gasped out among all the clapping.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun showed that hard-workers can defeat geniuses!" Lee exclaimed. "Now I will train even harder so I can challenge Naruto-kun for a spar!"

"I can't believe it…" Sakura said incredulously.

"C-could he be stronger than Sasuke-kun?" Ino suddenly asked, making Sakura turn and look at her.

"No way! Sasuke-kun was always stronger than Naruto and with the training from Kakashi-sensei, he's probably even stronger."

"I don't think that anything Kakashi taught Sasuke would be enough against Naruto," Asuma said, gaining the attention of the others.

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, confused.

"The move Naruto used before he shocked Neji was easily jonin level. To have such control of elemental chakra takes some hard training. The fact that he used such complex form of nature manipulation is astounding itself!" Asuma replied, shocking the others. "If he can do something as difficult as that, who knows what else he can do."

"That gaki's really something," Anko said quietly, receiving a nod from Kurenai.

Other genin stayed silent after hearing this. How strong Naruto really was?

Xxxx

"Next match will now begin!" Genma said, quieting the cheering of the crowd. "Would Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara come down?"

Gaara was enveloped in sand ad he suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of Genma. He turned toward the crowd, eagerly expecting his future victim to arrive. His sand was twitching in excitement at having to fight someone as strong as Sasuke. The Uchiha was someone worthy for proving his existence.

So it wasn't strange when his anger rose as Sasuke still didn't show up.

"Uchiha Sasuke, please come down to the arena," Genma said again, but received no reply. Sighing, he looked at the Hokage for instructions. Were it anyone else, Genma would immediately disqualify them, but since it was an Uchiha, he didn't want to get himself some crap from the council.

Genma saw Hokage in deep thought, before he whispered something to a guard on his side. The man then jumped from the balcony and walked toward Genma.

"Uchiha Sasuke is to be disqualified," the man said.

"Are you sure, Raido? Not that I care, but the crowd will be pissed," Genma replied, surprised at the Hokage's quick decision.

Raido nodded. "Hokage's orders," he said with a shrug.

Genma shrugged as well. He was actually glad that the Uchiha brat would be disqualified. Sasuke was pain in the ass for everyone and this was the last straw. "For not showing up on time, Uchiha Sasuke is hereby disqualified."

Xxxx

The crowd roared in disapproval. Most of them came here today just to watch Sasuke's fight and now that he was disqualified, they really didn't have a reason to stay. Some outright stood up and left the stands. Others though, stayed because they saw the first fight and saw how amazing Naruto's prowess was, which persuaded them to stay on their seats. If the Uzumaki fought Gaara, who was notorious throughout the nations, the fight would surely be interesting.

On the genin side of the stands, things weren't going so well. Sakura and Ino were literally on an uproar when they heard the latest decision. In their minds, no one could disqualify their Sasuke-kun.

"How dare they disqualify Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted.

Ino also opened her mouth to shout some gibberish, but Asuma's firm voice stopped her in her tracks. "Sasuke doesn't deserve to be promoted. His lateness just proves how arrogant he is and that is something a chunin must not have. If a person like him were to lead a team behind him, it would surely be disastrous. That being said, shut up and respect your Hokage's decisions."

Ino shivered slightly. She had never seen Asuma so angry. That one time when they were attacked by a group of bandits on their first C-rank mission, he was slightly angry, but still it was nothing like this. The seriousness on his face told her how mad he would be if she vocally supported Sakura. Lowering her head in defeat, she turned back to arena in silence.

"What do you mean? Sasuke-kun is strong enough to be a chunin!" Sakura said, not noticing Asuma's serious expression or Ino's subtle nudges that urged her to stop talking.

"A chunin doesn't need to be strong, pinky," Anko suddenly said, but her voice held none of the cheerfulness from before. She was dead serious and that scared Sakura. "A chunin needs to be able to lead his team and keep them out of danger. He would often have to risk his ass to save others. He must not be arrogant like that little prick and think that he can defeat anyone with a strange pair of eyes and a name on his registration list."

Sakura shut up after hearing this. She knew this was all true and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any argument for it. Silently she also turned toward the arena. She could only wonder what happened to Sasuke and Kakashi.

"My eternal rival and his student are really unyouthful," Gai said, surprisingly quietly and seriously.

Other jonin, despite themselves, nodded in agreement. Soon their attention was turned back to Genma, waiting for the beginning of the next match.

Xxxx

"Hokage-dono, you should've given him some more time. I'm sure the boy would appear eventually," the Kazekage spoke.

"He failed to show up and the only solution was disqualification. I will not show favoritism toward any of my genin, whether they were from clans or not," Sarutobi said with a voice of finality. "Why do you want to see Sasuke in fight anyway?"

The Kazekage carefully chose his next words. "I want to see my son measure up against the last Uchiha. They say that the boy is strong and I want to see that strength measured up against my son's."

Sarutobi frowned inwardly. "I assure you that Naruto-kun is strong as well and he will be more than enough for your son to test himself."

The Kazekage frowned under his hat. _'Damn it, this will really set some of my plans back,' _the man thought before turning toward the Hokage, his frown hidden underneath his hat.

Xxxx

The crowd's roars didn't falter in the least until Genma released a good amount of killing intent that froze the civilians in their tracks. They were making the most noise so when he cancelled the intent, the crowd was silent. Coughing to regain his composure, he continued. "As I said, Uchiha Sasuke is disqualified and Gaara moves onto the next round."

The civilians stayed silent as Gaara turned around and began walking toward the competitors' box. His sand was twitching angrily as his next victim wasn't here. Only thing that prevented him from losing control and killing everybody was the match he would fight next. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was worthy enough for Gaara to prove his existence.

"Now, the next match will be between Aburame Shino and Kankuro," Genma announced, but before he could continue, someone interrupted.

"Proctor I forfeit!" Kankuro's yell was followed by a confused look on Genma's face and crowd's roar of disapproval. First they couldn't see their Uchiha fight and now this one gives up.

Naruto though, understood why he gave up. The invasion would start soon and if he tired himself out, he would be useless. Even worse if his puppets broke down. All that didn't matter though, if he faced Naruto when the invasion starts. He would lose no matter what.

"Are you sure?" Genma asked, receiving a nod from the puppet user. "Very well. Winner by default, Aburame Shino!"

The crowd voiced its disapproval again. It was getting quite boring for them since, after the first match, they couldn't see their personal hero in action and the next match ended with forfeit. Luckily for them, the next match would start soon and the contestants wouldn't forfeit now.

"The next match between Nara Shikamaru and Temari will begin now," Genma announced to the crowd. "Would the contestants come down, please?"

Temari opened her fan and sent a gust of wind over the arena. Elegantly, she jumped on the fan and glided on the winds toward the center of the arena. Shikamaru on the other hand wasn't so thrilled about fighting and was contemplating whether or not to give up. His answer though, was voiced by Naruto. "If you give up now, you'll be chewed out by not only Ino, but your mother as well."

And there it was. The only reason Shikamaru was here. He really didn't care about the promotion at all, it came with too many troublesome assignments. He was sure that he would have even less time for his cloud gazing. But to face his mother and Ino if he have up, he didn't want that to his worst enemy. Somehow, the promotion didn't sound so troublesome anymore.

"Troublesome," he muttered and dragged through the halls toward the arena. Few minutes later, much to the ire of almost everyone, he stood in front of Temari.

"Both of you ready?" Genma asked and received two nods. "Then, begin!"

**Thirty minutes later…**

"I give up," Shikamaru voiced out and released his opponent from his shadows.

"What the hell?" Temari yelled. "You had me there, why the hell are you giving up?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I had only enough chakra to hold you still for few more seconds, in which I couldn't really do anything. Plus, it's too troublesome to keep on fighting."

Temari nodded dumbly. She was still angry that he gave up like that, but after hearing his reasoning, she understood. The two turned toward Genma who announced the results. "Winner, Temari!"

Xxxx

"So unmotivated," Ino muttered and palmed her forhead.

"That's just how he is," Asuma added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, the brat is lazy," Anko butted in, annoyed. "Now shut up, the next match is about to start."

"D-do you think that Naruto can win?" Sakura asked.

Anko snorted. "He better. I put half of my savings on him."

Kurenai chuckled at that. "You're really that sure he'll win?"

Anko flashed her a grin. "You bet!"

Xxxx

"Next match will begin now! Would Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara come down?" Genma announced to the crowd.

Gaara disappeared in his usual sand Shunshin and reappeared next to Genma. He had a manic smirk on his face and his eyes were hungry for blood, Naruto's blood. His sand twitched in excitement at the battle he was about to have. He never felt so excited in his life, not even when he found out he would fight Sasuke.

Naruto calmly walked out of the box toward the proctor and stood still, waiting for the match to start. He could smell the bloodlust coming from his opponent and the killing intent he was spilling toward him wasn't so unnoticeable. But Naruto was completely unaffected by it. What he has been through until now made sure of that. He looked toward Genma and gave him a slight nod, signifying that he was ready.

"Then, Uzumaki Naruto versus Gaara," Genma began with a raised arm. "Beg-"

Sudden whirl of wind and leaves interrupted Genma's speech and received frowns from both Naruto and Gaara. As the whirlwind settled down, two figures could be seen standing back to back, like everything is alright in the world. Sasuke, with his arrogant smirk as always, changed his attire, while Kakashi looked the same as always.

"Yo, sorry we're late," he said with a carefree voice. He then looked around and saw both Gaara and Naruto standing there. "Naruto? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Kakashi," Naruto replied emotionlessly.

Kakashi was surprised by Naruto's tone, but decided to ignore it. "So, are we on time for Sasuke's match?"

"Your student has been disqualified for being late, Kakashi," Genma said, making his only visible eye go wide.

"What? You can't do that!" Sasuke shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.

Kakahis ignored his student's outburst as he concentrated on Naruto. "So… you defeated Neji?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes I did, now would you please leave. You are in the way of our fight."

"Shut up, dobe!" Sasuke shouted and prepared to charge at the blond, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Calm down, Sasuke," Kakashi told him, before turning to Naruto and gave him an eye-smile. "Congratulations on your win, Naruto," the nod he received back was discouraging. "I admit that you're stronger than before, but you're not ready to face Gaara. Since this was supposed to be Sasuke's match, maybe we can get Hokage to switch you with Sasuke."

Naruto's narrowed eyes and killing intent he sent toward his 'sensei', told the man what the blond was thinking about that. "You don't know anything, Kakashi. Now get the fuck of the field, you're in the way of my match."

Kakashi was appalled by the amount of venom that laced Naruto's words, but didn't allow it to discourage it. "Naruto, as your sensei-"

"_You _are not my sensei," Naruto cut in. "And you have no right to call yourself that if you only taught Sasuke anything. Your student was late and got disqualified, losing his right to fight for the position of chunin. There is nothing you can do, Kakashi."

"Shut up, loser!" Sasuke decided to make his presence known, again. "I'm the last Uchiha and I have the right to fight today!"

"Sasuke, get off the field before I make you," Naruto said coldly.

With that, Sasuke lost all his reasoning and charged at Naruto. What he didn't expect was Naruto spinning on his left heel and sending his right foot straight to the side of Sasuke's head. The kick was so strong that it sent Sasuke sailing over the arena before he crashed into a wall and fell on the ground, unconscious.

Kakashi looked in shock at the display of effective strength that his 'loser' student just showed. If Naruto could knock out Sasuke in one hit, what else could he do? His musings were cut short when Naruto spoke again.

"Pick up that thrash and leave," he said coldly.

Kakashi could only wordlessly comply considering how shocked he was. He quickly rushed over to Sasuke's side and picked him up, taking him to the infirmary. He was sure that the bruise on Sasuke's ego would swell greatly. He could only hope that he wouldn't do anything rash.

As they left, Naruto turned toward the two other people in the arena. "Shall we begin?"

At Gaara's nod, Genma raised his arm and prepared to announce.

"Uzumaki Naruto versus Gaara, begin!"

* * *

**And that's it for now.  
**

**I want to hear your opinions so don't be afraid to review. I'd greatly appreciate it if you did.**

**See ya!**


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